The Scientist
by WhymIdoingthisAgain
Summary: One day while visiting her Granny at the hospital, Nura meets the strangest two men.  Who are Eric and Alec, and when did everything start going chaotic?  An Ed and Al in our world, our time fic with a bit of a twist.  Ed/Oc Al/Win T for Ed's mouth.
1. Come Up to Meet You

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot(some what? It is a little over used) and any OC characters used or mentioned. Any similarity to real people/places is honestly a coincidence. All FMA characters, music, and any other references to obviously copy righty things belong to their owners. No matter how much I wish they were mine.**

The Scientist

Chapter One: Come Up to Meet You

"More tragic deaths such as this could be avoided if doctors would stop prescribing-"

Click Click Click

"Cuz baby you're a firewo-"

Click Click Click Click

"If I di-"

Click Click

"Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry."

A relieved sigh could be heard from the young woman as she stopped scrolling on her Ipod's radio and settled on a station. Honestly, she couldn't help but think to herself, she wouldn't have this problem if she would stop being such a cheep stake and buy more songs.

Grumbling to herself as she placed her music player in her pocket and shifted the stuffed messenger bag she was carrying. The bag was known and acknowledged by those who new her as "The Smuggler". Really, you bring your elderly relative some 'necessities' and suddenly your things are nick named after criminals.

Rolling her eyes to herself, she started to walk across the pedestrian crossing to "Gold Ways Hospital". A snort escaped her. Yeah. It was real golden alright. That's why the building looked over a hundred years old and that it was going to collapse at any given moment.

The electronic sliding doors don't even work she thought glumly as she pushed them open. Why the hell had her father sent his own mother here? It was a thought that had haunted her for well over a year. It wasn't like the man was poor or even not doing well, he could definitely afford to send his Mom to a better hospital.

"Hello Nura."

Looking around to see who had spoken to her, Nura's eyes settled at a woman at the main lobby desk. The woman was in her mid twenties, with soft grey eyes. She had long dark brown hair and a slightly heavier build that was hidden behind a black flowing dress. Her lips were a surprising color of lime green.

"Hey Tina, how are you today?" Nura asked.

"As good as I can be in this hell hole where color is not allowed," Tina responded with an angry pout. "My Lips o' Rebellion and I are going to win us our colored clothing. Once the head honchos realize I won't stop using different colors on my lips until they at least let us wear some solid colors, they'll have to give in!"

"I'll pretend you made any sense at all. Good luck with that."

"Thanks. By the way, I heard your Gran has a new roommate. Just thought you should know. Since you, you know, look like you rolled out of bed and grabbed whatever you could and ran here."

"..."

"Hey! Don't look at me like that! I tell you these things because I care! I'm a very caring person! If I wasn't, would I be working at a hospital?"

"I'm leaving you now," Nura grumbled as she started walking towards the elevators. Well, that explained why her Grandma wanted her to bring double what she usually did. Would have been nice if she would have warned her though, then she could have dressed semi presentable. No wonder people never took her places.

She stopped in front of the elevator area and noticed people already waiting for them to come down. Sighing in aggravation she leaned against the closest wall. She could probably crab walk to the other side of the building and back before the doors would open. The stairway was still under construction, and there was no way she was going to even try risking her life to get upstairs faster.

Nura took her Ipod out of her pocket and turned the volume up. Tina would probably be angry with her if she found out she'd been listening to it and her at the same time. Oh well. It had been a pretty crappy week, she was owed some form of happiness right? So wearing comfy clothes, bitching, and being unenthusiastic was allowed also right? Right.

Looking up from her things she decided to people watch to amuse herself. Four other people were also waiting to get onto the elevator with her. One of them was a woman in in her thirties who was yelling into her blackberry in another language. Man did she look unhappy. If Nura was to guess, she'd say that the woman was German. Her accent was thick and sounded as though it came from deep in her throat. She also had beautiful piercing blue eyes.

The next person was a man in his fifties or sixties. He seemed to have a cold or maybe bad allergies because every once in awhile he would sniffle or rub his nose against his sleeve. She really hoped she did not have to stand next to him. If he touched her, she had no idea what she would do.

The third person was an old man possibly in his eighties, and he was breathing heavily. Very heavily. Heavily enough that Nura was starting to become concerned. Especially when she noticed that he seemed to be staring into space. Just to be sure she looked over in the direction he was looking in and her eyes widened. Perverted old man!

Standing where her eyes had turned was an extremely attractive young man. Dark green eyes gave a blank stare at the elevator doors and mouth was twisted downwards in a slight scowl. Short black hair was slicked back and she noticed a slight scar on his forehead. He honestly couldn't have been much taller then her, maybe by one inch or so, maybe he was five foot six then. His broad shoulders and sturdy body made up for it though.

Quickly Nura looked away. She was almost as bad as that old man! Well, maybe not she thought as she glanced over to see him still panting. Creepy. So very very creepy. Surely she would have nightmares about this. Should she be a good Samaritan and throw something, like a crumpled piece of paper, at him to get him to stop his scary staring?

Luckily she was broken out of her musing by the ding of the elevators announcing their arrival. "Finally," she muttered as she turned her Ipod off and shoved it back in her pocket. One by one the four visitors entered the elevators. The very small, and now very cramped elevators. At least she was pressed against the German lady and the hot guy. She would have started crying if it was one of the other two.

Actually, she thought as she looked up to see the youngest man looking at his fellow occupants, she wished he was on of the others. She really hoped she didn't smell. She did honestly do what Tina said, roll out of bed and grab her clothing and things. How was Nura supposed to know there was going to be a gorgeous man here? So, because of her non-precognitive abilities she was wearing a chewbacca hoodie and neon paint stained jeans. If that wasn't bad enough, her light brown hair was in a haphazard bun and she had dark circles under her hazel eyes, making her look like a crazy druggie in her opinion.

Life was so very cruel Nura thought moodily as the group shifted to let the sniffling man out at his stop. She looked down at her jeans and started picking at the peeling paint. They had been her favorite. So comfy, so wonderful. Then her friend 'borrowed' them and they came back like this. She was interrupted from her thoughts as the elevator jerked to start moving again and she was bumped into.

"Entschuldigen Sie bitte, I mean, I'm sorry," The blue eyed woman said quickly.

"Its fine." Waved off Nura. She was surprised. Slightly because most people wouldn't have apologized for such a minor bump, mostly because the woman had sounded ready to kill someone on the phone earlier. "It was nothing, really," she reassured. The woman nodded and turned back to whatever she was doing now on her phone.

Nura grinned in relief when they finally reached her floor. Hopping out she noticed she wasn't the only one who had exited. So had Mr. Wonderful. She chuckled nervously to herself. Great, now he got to get the full view. Oh well. He'd probably turn at some point and she'd never see him again.

Like right now, or now. How about now? Oh come on! There aren't many more places he could turn into! She knew for a fact that the other half of this floor was staff only which left only five more rooms for them to go into, one was closed due to the "incident", crazy Dan was in the other, and one was her Granny's, leaving only two.

That really didn't make any sense though because she knew for a fact that one of those rooms was Mr. Ander's, and the only living relative/friend he had left was his daughter. The last room housed Ms. Kelly, and Ms. Kelly only let family members and fellow patients, doctors a given, into her room after the "incident". Nura highly doubted that the strong black woman was related to the white male behind her.

So that left her with nothing. Where was this guy going? Nura's shoulders tensed. Was he following her? It would make sense she guessed. Was he going to attack her? He hadn't said a word to her the whole time even though it seemed he 'coincidentally' was heading in the same exact area. Should she run or would that set him off?

Nura nearly cried out in joy when she finally reached her Grandma's door. Then nearly cried out in terror as the man followed after her. Oh man she was going to die in a freaking hospital in front of her Granny and some random person! Wait a minute...

Another person! She was such an idiot. Of course the other patient was there and probably had a family. What kind of moron was she? Why did she always have to get herself worked up over the most stupid things? Like panicking because she couldn't remember if she blew out the candles before she left home or-

"Are you alright?"

Jumping, she twirled around to face the man she had been having a mini crisis over. He had on eyebrow raised and had his mouth twisted in a slightly concerned frown.

"Fine! I'm fine!" Nura announced in a high-pitched whimper, shaking her head a little.

A disbelieving look formed on his face. "Then why exactly did you stop in front of the door and start glaring at it?"

A dark pink blush started to scorch her face. "I thought I saw something wrong on the post it board. Sorry." She looked off to the side embarrassed. Once again, there really, truly was a reason people didn't take her places.

"Its fine," he responded as he reached over her to open the door. "Ladies first." She couldn't help it as her face sky rocketed from pretty in pink to rose red. If this continued on, she was going to die from a rush of blood to the head. She was such a loser.

"Brother? What did you do to her?"

Was the first thing she heard when she entered the room. Nura looked over to see another young man laying in a hospital bed. He had bright green eyes and brown hair pulled into a short pony tail. He wasn't as broad as his brother, but she could tell that he was taller. The beds were six foot five so she'd guess he was about five foot nine. He also had two bright pink casts on his legs.

"Why do you always assume I've done something?" Came the irritated reply from the man next to her.

The other male rolled his eyes. "Because over eighty-five percent of the time you have done something. So what did you do?"

"I'm telling you, I didn't do anything," he replied. Then he turned his gazed to her. "Tell him I didn't do anything."

"Brother! You can't bully her into telling me what you want me to hear!"

"I didn't do anything! Besides, I was asking!"

"You have a funny way of asking!"

"Excuse me..?"

"Well fuck you Al!"

"Brother, watch your language in front of the lady!"

"Excuse me."

"I don't see why she would give a shit about how I speak since I've done some mysterious voodoo bull to her!"

"So you did do something!"

"Excuse me!"

"Goddamn it Al, I didn't do anything!"

"You already admitted it Brother! You may as well fess up now a-

"Holy somersaulting Batman! Would you two stop arguing and let me speak!" Nura exclaimed in an agitated tone. The two boys froze and turned towards her. "He didn't do anything to me! Alright! No weird voodoo! So can we stop fighting and can one of you tell me where the hell my Grandma is?" she asked in an irritated huff, pointing towards the empty bed. An awkward silence descended on the room.

"I told you so," the black haired boy said smugly.

"Eric!" Al exclaimed. He looked upwards as though that would offer some type salvation from his suffering, and then he turned his attention back to Nura. "A nurse came in a little while ago to take her for a walk. She should be back soon," he finished with a kind smile.

"Thank you, Al?" she asked uncertainly as she moved her bangs and some stray hair out of her eye sight. Why hadn't she dressed properly again?

"Alec Ballard, its a pleasure to meet you. I'm guessing you're Nura?" Al asked with a curious upturn to his mouth.

"Yeah, Nura Tadd. Its nice to meet you too?" she asked nervously.

Nura received a wide grin back. "Your Granny told us, Eric," he motioned to his brother, "and I, a lot about you since we've been here the past week."

"Of course she has," she groaned in despair. The old lady was out to get her, she swore it. She could have prevented this, but her dad had to be a jerk and screw her week up. Crazy family members.

"Nothing terrible though, so you don't need to worry," he tried to assure her as he winked. She blushed a little more. He and his brother definitely hadn't shorted out on the attractive genes.

Nura heard an amused snort and turned to see the older brother, Eric, looking at her. There was no missing the cruel curl at the side of his lips "She did tell us about the ceiling fan fiasco."

"Brother!" Alec exclaimed as he glared at him and then turned to the horrified looking Nura. "Its not so bad! Brother and I have done much worse things! Well, mostly Brother-"

"I resent that." Ed pitched in with a flat look towards Al.

"Its nothing that you don't already know though" was the flat reply.

"How is it my fault that those bastar-"

"Brother! What did I say about your language!"

She couldn't help the amused grin that crossed her face. "Its alright Al," she stated kindly. "Besides, I'm eighteen, not eight. Any words your brother could say I probably heard before I graduated from high-school."

"Your eighteen too? Cool! That means you can team up with me against old man Brother when he's being an idiot." Alec responded, completely ignoring the whole point of her statement.

"Old man?" Eric sputtered indignantly. "I'm only one year older then you Al!"

"Still older then me," Al responded cheekily.

"An' I'm older then all of ya." Came a crinkly old voice from the door way.

Spinning around, Nura came face to face with an elderly woman. She had hazel eyes, blue brown, just like her own, and short grey curly hair. Her mouth was split into a wide tooth filled smile, causing the wrinkles around her mouth and eyes to stick out more. She also had a cane to help her walk her small body around.

"Granny!" Nura exclaimed in delight as she enveloped her in a gentle hug. "I've missed you so much. I'm so sorry I haven't been over more often!"

Granny chuckled in amusement. "Its alrigh' sunshine. I know abou' ya Daddy takin' ya away from me for awhile. I'll forgive ya if ya brough' the stuff," she added with a wink. Smiling, Nura brought out "The Smuggler".

"Its all in here Gran. All the baked goods and magazines your elderly heart could desire," Nura said while motioning into the overflowing bag.

"Wonderful. I knew their was a reason I kep' ya."

"I was worried. For a minute there I thought you kept me because you loved me. I'm glad to know its only because I'm an awesome middle-man."

"Smar' ass."

"I learned it from the best."

"Damn righ' ya did," Nura's grandmother replied proudly. "Ya boys been trea'in' my baby girl righ' while I was gone?" she asked, giving the boys a mock serious look.

"Yes Mam'," Al responded with a smile.

"Why does everyone always think I've done something?" Eric grunted out with his arms crossed in annoyance while glowering sideways at Granny.

"Don' look a' me like tha' boy. I may be small and rus'y, bu' I could still whip ya ass!" the old woman exclaimed as she shook her cane at him. She settled down on her hospital bed with the help of Nura and continued to glare back at Eric. "Jus' try me shor' stuff!"

"Who the hell are you calling short, you hagling!" Eric roared out.

"There's only one person I see here wh' falls bellow the average high' limi', and it sure as hell ain' Al or Nura!"

"I'll shorten you, you goddamn tarsier!"

"Not again," Al moaned out as he sunk back in his bed.

"This has happened before?" Nura asked, looking with morbid fascination at the two arguing.

"Every day this week."

"You poor soul."

"You have no idea.

"Ya so shor', tha' midge's consider ya ver'ically challenged!"

"Where are all your children lady? Are they waiting for you in the shoe?"

"Aye-Aye!"

"Tarsier!"

**I hope you enjoyed my first chapter! I've kinda had this "Ed and Al in our world" for awhile now, and I figured why not. The story is pretty much mapped out in my mind, so its all a matter of if you guys enjoy it enough to want me to continue writing. Just FYI, if I continue, there will be Ed/Oc and Al/Win later on. Just so you know :)**

**I'm trying to make Nura a relatable character, and her personality will start coming out in the next few chapters. She's a little depressed right now, and a little bewildered be her Grandma's behavior with Eric****. If at any point you think she becomes "Mary Sue" like, inform me. Send me messages like none other. Making a Mary Sue will destroy my soul. To bad for Ed and Al. No walking Philosopher's stone for them!**

**See ya!**

**WAIDTA**


	2. Tell You I'm Sorry

**Disclaimer: Well, I still only own the story, Nura, Granny, Tina, and any other Oc's in this story. Any mention to anything else belongs to those people. Like the FMA characters.**

The Scientist

Chapter Two: Tell You I'm Sorry

Nura stared forward with a dazed expression. In front of her was her Granny and Eric devouring the baked goods she had brought and mocking magazines together. Had they not just been trying to kill each other ten minutes ago? How do you go from homicidal to buddy buddy so quickly? Is this what they meant by frenimies?

Glancing sideways to see if Al was as shocked as her, she was disappointed to see that he was munching on his own food nonchalantly. Alrighty then, she was obviously the only one affected by this. Apparently reality had decided to turn over a new leaf in the last twenty-four hours. That was cool. She could deal with that. Right?

"So what exactly does she do?" She heard Eric ask her Granny.

"She's a model. She s'ands there and looks pre'y. Suppose ta make women want ta buy the prodec's they're advertising," Nura looked back over in time to watch her Gran roll her eyes and give a huff.

"Pretty? She looks like she's never eaten a decent meal in her life to me," Eric said disbelievingly, looking over to the older woman. "Why the hell would anyone want to buy anything she's selling?"

Granny looked to the scowling man. Waving her arms in the air and 'whispering' in a conspiring manner, she said, "Probably hasn'. Ea's a low calorie die' and bunny food probably." Then she threw her hands up angrily and hissed," Socie'y has girls thinking they have ta be pencil thin to be attra'ive. Back in my day we had some mea' on our bones! I's jus' wrong!"

A horrified look passed Eric's face. "No carbohydrates or meat? Why would anyone want to look like a walking skeleton?"

"None, and hell if I know."

"Its a miracle they're even alive!"

Nura sighed. Leave it to her Grandma to over-exaggerate, and leave it to a male not to know anything going on in the minds of females. Personally, she would never be able to do it. She liked food way to much to ever give it up.

"Granny, stop mentally scaring people. Not all models are that skinny. There are the average and plus sized models too. I'm sure that models eat more then vegetables and fruit. Also, not everyone wants to look like the woman in that picture," Nura said, placing her hands on her hips.

Her Grandma gave a defeated look. "Of course ya righ' dear." She smiled up at Nura and Nura lips twitched upwards also. Until she saw the mischievous look in the woman's eyes. "Some of them would rather look like hobos."

A furious blush crossed Nura's face. "Its not my fault! This is the first time in a week I've been home! Besides, you didn't tell me there would be people here!" she exclaimed indignantly. She just received another tooth filled smile in return. Crazy old lady.

Nura turned over to see if Al was still alright to see him muffling laughter. Just when she thought her face couldn't become any more red she thought miserably. He waved his hands around as though trying to shoo away any of her self depreciating thoughts.

"Don't worry, I'm not laughing at you in particular, I'm laughing at all three of you. Well, how you're acting to be specific."

"What the hell did I do?" Eric muttered sourly.

Alec continued to chuckle and replied, "You looked so horrified by the thought of someone not eating something. I found that really ironic seeing as you won't even drink your milk!"

A deep scowl found its way onto Eric's face. "Its the life elixir of the devil Al. How the hell do you expect me to drink that?"

Al rolled his eyes. "Its milk, Brother. It comes from a cow. You'd probably would be taller if you drank it once in awhile."

"I am not short! And there is no way I'm drinking something that looks like glue!"

"You're being unreasonable!"

"So," Nura quickly interrupted what she assumed was going to escalade into another fight. "If it isn't to personal, may I ask what happened to your legs?" Both men stopped. Eric was suddenly looking at his brother with a very pointed look, and Al had a furious blush on his face looking anywhere that didn't have eyes gazing at him.

"Its was nothing really. Just a little accident." Al nervously said. A grunt escaped Eric who was now staring daggers at his brother.

"Al here got into a little bit of car accident, didn't you Al?" Eric growled out while continuing to give his younger brother a pointed look.

"Brother." Al whimpered.

Nura had a feeling she shouldn't have brought this up. If that wasn't stating the obvious she grunted to herself. She glanced nervously over to her Granny to see the woman completely unaffected. Right. No help there. She turned back to the brothers when she heard Eric begin speaking again.

"Al decided jumping in front of a moving vehicle was a good idea, didn't you Al." If looks could melt, Al would be a puddle of despair Nura thought.

"Brother." Al whined pitifully, trying to squirm away from the look his brother was sending him.

"Why, you may ask, did Al jump in front of a moving vehicle?" "The Look", Nura had decided to dub it, had done what was thought impossible and became even more intense. "For a cat. He jumped in front of a moving vehicle for a cat, didn't you Al."

"I couldn't just let it get hit by a car!" the whimpering man responded weakly.

"Goddamn it Al! You aren't an indestructible suit of armor! You got hit by a fucking Minivan! The fact that you only broke two of your legs and got a couple scratches is a miracle!" Eric roared out, his temper finally snapping.

"But the kitty and I both made it right Brother? That's all that matters now," Al weakly stated, giving his brother a pitiful look. Eric just stared at him with his mouth twitching, trying to regain control of himself. Big sad eyes continued to look up at him. "I'm sorry Big Brother."

Eric seemed to deflate a little at that, but not completely. He was obviously still angry beyond belief, but he managed not to yell for his little brother's sake.

"Ya boys done with ya little therapy session now?" her Gran finally spoke up. Eric grunted with a glare and Alec looked at her with sad eyes and gave a little nod. "Good. We have enough vaginas in this room, hell if we ge' tw' more."

"Grandma!" Nura hissed out in embarrassment. This woman was going to be her undoing, she was sure of it.

"Its fine," Eric grunted. "She's right anyway, worrying and bitching about things that have already happened won't make things better." How he got that from what her Grandmother said she didn't know. Maybe they were speaking in their own psychotic language she couldn't understand. "Shorch" maybe. The language of short tempered people. She nodded to herself. That was probably it.

"I'm always righ'," Granny responded with a smirk.

"Of course you are hag." Erik responded with an eye roll.

"Show some respec' ta the lady wh's finding ya a place ta stay!" the old woman growled, picking up her cane and trying to smack Eric with it.

The male snorted and dodged out of the woman's reach. "You've been saying that for three days now and I'm still sleeping on those shitty chairs," Eric said, motioning over to two chairs squished together and covered in hospital pillows. Looking closer Nura could see a suitcase laying against them.

"Well, now ya have somewhere ta stay, don' he Nura?" she said pointedly looking at her grandchild.

Standing there quietly, Nura tried to process what her Granny said. What did she have to do with- Oh. Oh. "Grandmother!" she shrieked staring at the crazy bat in front of her.

"Don' ya 'Grandmother' me! I brough' ya in this world, the leas' ya could do is a little favor!" the woman responded with a smirk.

Nura glared at the woman. "You didn't bring me into this world, my Mo-"

"I brough' ya Dad inta this world, wh' had unprotec'ed sex with ya Momma, wh' then brough' ya inta this world. Withou' me, ya wouldn't be here. And are ya really gonna le' the poor boy sleep on those chairs? He's gonna end up in his own room here if he keeps it up! Who's conscience is tha' gonna res' on, hmm?" Granny asked with a brow lifted, giving Nura an accusing look.

"But I don't even kno-" Nura tried to reason with the obviously insane woman. Had the woman always been this crazy? Looking back through her life she could only settle with a yes. She really wished her Poppy was still alive to tone it down a bit.

"His name's Eric Ballard, he is nine'een. He and his little brother where passin' through here, when Alec go' hi' savin' a kitty. Now he has nowhere ta stay. There. Now ya know," was the stubborn reply.

"Grandma! You know th-" The desperate young woman tried to interrupt.

"I've spean' a week with the kid. I think I'd know if somethin' was wrong with him. Besides, no one with a brother as swee' as Al could do ya any harm. It would be easier for the poor boy. If he stayed with ya, ya could bring him ta visit Al when ya come ta visit me. Ya ac'ing just like ya Daddy. Always having ta -" prattled on the woman with an irritated huff.

"Alright already! I'll take him home with me, but if I end up in some kind of Jame Gumb situation, its your fault!"

"Tha's my girl. Besides, I'm sure everthin' will be fine." Her Grandma said proudly with a smug smirk.

"Yeah, yeah. The moment he starts trying to get me to lotion up my skin, I'm calling the cops." Nura grumbled out in despair.

"I highly doub' ya have ta worry abou' tha' with Eric." Granny responded in amusement.

She shifted to look over at the two men with a frown. Al was trying to hide his amusement behind his hand, and Eric just had a dead look on his face.

"Lotion?" Al asked from behind his hand, trying to hide his smile. It was all in vain though because his eyes where obviously alight with laughter.

"Its better you don't know," Nura glumly responded, eyeballing Eric. Eric gave her a flat look and then rolled his eyes. Obviously he thought she was just as insane as she thought he was. Good. Maybe it would keep his inner psycho away.

She looked over to the clock to see that it was almost five thirty in the evening. Glancing over at Eric she asked, "If we leave now we can walk to my house before dark." The man frowned and glanced at the clock and then out the window. Nodding he walked over to rearrange the seats and to grab his suitcase. Then Eric walked over to say his goodbyes to Alec.

"See you soon you crazy old bat," Nura whispered into her Granny's ear with a slight grin. Pissed as she was at the situation, she could never truly be angry at the woman.

"Ya tw' ya little hobo." Her Grandma whispered back. "Don' worry yaself to much. Besides, he's more likely ta be a Hannibal then a Gumb. Ya should be safe," cackled the old lady. Nura pulled away and glared at the woman and turned her attention to the two brothers who were watching them.

"It was nice meeting you Nura, and thank you so much for taking in Brother," Al said with a beaming smile.

Unable to resist giving a small smile back Nura responded, "It was nice meeting you too Al, and you're welcome." She turned to Eric. "Are you ready to head out?"

"Yeah, let's go," he responded. "See you, hag." he said with a half hearted wave as he headed towards the door.

"See ya short stuff," came the goading reply.

Rolling her eyes Nura started walked after him. Sadly, she didn't get out fast enough not to hear her Granny's exclamation of "Claaaarrrriiiiiceee!" and the cackling that followed. She shuddered and looked at the broad back of the man walking before her. Whoever said grandmothers were docile and sweet creatures was obviously full of something.

Luckily the two managed to catch the elevator open at the end of the hall and hopped in. She blinked in surprise to see the German lady from earlier in the day standing inside with them, once again yelling things she couldn't understand. Small world.

She gazed over to Eric to see him staring at the door with a closed off expression. Nura shifted uneasily. Should she try speaking to him or would that just make the situation more awkward? She was terrible at small talk with strangers, especially when one on one.

Thankfully, it wasn't terribly long till the reached the main floor. She walked out quickly, followed by Eric. The two made their way toward the main exit when they were stopped by Tina, who was still sitting at the main lobby booth.

"Nura!" the woman squealed as she leaned on the desk with one hand, frantically waving with the other.

"Yes, Tina?" she asked with a sigh looking at the woman who seemed like she was going to explode with excitement.

"What do you think of my new colors? Think this will convince them to change the rules?" she said motioning to her now yellow and pink stripped lips.

"This hospital is going to be the end of me," she patted on the other woman's shoulder and turned to leave the hell hole. A silent Eric followed her.

Finally, after fifteen minutes of walking in uncomfortable silence, she was home. She turned to Eric and motioned to the soft blue split-level home in front of her. "This is it," she said with a relieved sigh.

Eric looked to her and back to the house. "This is yours?" he asked with a slightly doubtful look on his face.

"Well," Nura said with a sigh. "It was actually my Granny, Poppy, and father's. Since none of them are around to take care of it anymore, I've been living here." She looked over to see the man staring at her. She flushed and looked away. "Granny and my father split the bill to keep the place, and I just have to pay for my necessities. I would keep her here, but I can't offer her the help she needs."

She sighed in relief when the front door finally popped open. Home at last she thought in relief as she entered and flipped on the lights. Nura shimmied out of her hoodie threw it and "The Smuggler" into a the closet by the door and twisted around to face the guy behind her.

"You can put your jacket, gloves, and shoes in here if you'd like," she said as she took off her own shoes and threw them into the closet also. She watched him nod and take off his boots and place them carefully inside. Then he took off his gloves. Nura was startled to see on his right hand was still covered in a beige cloth. She was further surprised to see that the cloth covered his entire arm also after he took of his jacket to reveal a red short sleeved T-shirt.

Nura noticed Eric looking carefully at her. She tilted her head to the side and stated, "You really aren't helping the Gumb idea." Puffing out her cheeks she turned to face the main floor. "This," she motioned, "is the main living area. The kitchen/dining room, living room, and half bathroom are all on this floor."

She walked forward and motioned to each section. The living area was a soft green with a milk chocolate brown hardwood floor. It had a fire place and a fluffy brown couch and a matching chair. There was a standing lamp with cream shade and a coffee table.

The kitchen/dining area had a warm golden beige hue to it. The cabinets, floor, table, and chairs were a dark brown wood. The appliances, a fridge, oven, suspended microwave, and washing machine, were a white.

Further back Nura showed him a doorway that held a small red bathroom. By the bathroom, were two staircases. One leading downstairs, one leading up.

"The downstairs contains the entertainment and laundry room. It also has an office and another half bath. You can go down there anytime you want and use whatever you want. The electronics are in the entertainment room, obviously, and we have books in the office if you want to read any."

Leading him upstairs into the hallway Nura informed him, "There are four bedrooms up here. Three of them used to be in use, but now only one is. That one is mine." She motioned to the one on the right closest to the stairs. "The one in the back left corner is my father's. You can choose either one of these," she pointed to the two extra rooms. "Though I would suggest the one next to mine. Its basically another master bedroom. It has its own bathroom. You wouldn't have to share with me," she said motioning to the open door where a full bath could be seen. "My room and the room across from it were supposed to share it," she finished with a shrug.

Eric nodded and mumbled a thanks. "No problem. Do you want me to order some food? I don't have anything here," she clumsily asked. She noticed him scrunch his face up uncertainly and quickly added, "I'm starving, how does a pepperoni pizza and bread sticks sound?"

"Fine," he responded with a sigh.

"Great. I'll go order and you can go set up your room," Nura said nodding to herself.

She watched him turn around and push open the door to his room. Eric paused before completely entering. "Thanks,"he said before quietly shutting the door behind him.

Well, Nura thought to herself with a small smile while dialing on the phone, maybe this won't be so bad after all.

**Second chapter done. Aren't Grannies the darnest thing? :) I hope you guys enjoyed it.**

**Thanks,**

**WAIDTA**


	3. You Don't Know How Lovely You Are

**Disclaimer: I still own nothing but my Oc's and my plot. Anything that obviously is owned by someone is not mine. Especially FMA, any songs that are used, or Tv shows. No matter how much I may dream.**

The Scientist

Chapter Three: You Don't Know How Lovely You Are

Nura groaned and rolled over, trying to hide her face by burrowing it in her pillows as the suns rays pocked through the windows. It was to early for this crap. Blearily she opened her eyes and glared at the fabric in front of them. So... Tired... Moaning she stretched and flopped gracelessly over to glower sleepily at the ceiling.

She needed to get out of bed. Nura whined to herself as she tried to roll her body off the mattress into a standing position only to collapse into a heap on the floor. Every time she thought gloomily to herself as she rubbed her back and stood up. One would think that even in her half awake state she would know better by now, but nope, self preservation obviously skipped out on her, she grumbled.

Sighing, Nura rearranged her large T-shirt and night pants and headed out of her room to her bathroom across the hall. Opening the door and flicking the switch, she then turned towards the mirror. She grunted at her reflection and took out her tooth brush and paste. Thinking that the morning was gloomy and tiresome, she decided to add a little music to make her feel a little livelier. She hummed to herself as she brushed her teeth, though, she couldn't help but feel she was forgetting something. Shrugging to herself, Nura spat into the sink.

Continuing to hum to herself, she picked up her hairbrush. She started to run the brush through her hair as she swayed her body to the beat. Eventually, she brought her hand holding the brush to her mouth and thrust her other hand out dramatically, striking a pose.

_"I want to stand up, I want to let go,_

_You know, You know- no you don't, you don't._

_I want to shine on in the hearts of men,_

_I want a meaning from the back of my broken hand."_

Grinning to herself, Nura threw the brush in the air and caught it in her other hand and continued her little show.

_"Another head aches, another heart breaks._

_I am so much older than I can take._

_And my affection, well it comes and goes,_

_I need direction to perfection no no no n-"_

She cut herself short as she twirled and saw Eric standing outside the doorway with a slightly bewildered expression on his face. Oh. _That's_ what she had forgotten. A mortified blush found its way across her face, and she quickly placed her hand on her cheek to try to hide some of it. Well, Nura tried thinking reassuringly to herself, at least this time she had on pants.

Quickly she ran over and slammed the door in his face while shouting, "You saw nothing!" She gave a strangled noise of despair as she ran her hands over her face. It was to early for this esteem chomping drama monster she thought gloomily. Mornings were also apparently on the list of things out to get her.

Silently, after gathering the leftovers of her pride, Nura made her way to the kitchen. When she entered, her gaze fell onto Eric, who was looking with a hungry longing at the fridge. The fridge that was now filled with food thanks to a late-night grocery shopping experience. An experience that involved a brooding Eric and a run in with the Heavy Breather. Apparently he hadn't been as oblivious to the gaze as she thought. It had not been a pleasant experience.

Squeezing the bridge of her nose in aggravation at the memory, Nura gave a small huff. Turning her attention back to the present, she glanced at the hungry male. "You're allowed to take out food, you know. I won't get angry at you for eating. Especially since you payed for half of the groceries." She received a blank look. She blinked back. Why was he looking at her like that? It wasn't like she was luring him into a trap. Men.

"Seriously. You can eat."

He grumbled something in reply.

Nura scrunched her face up in confusion. "Could you please say that again? I couldn't hear you. You were mumbling," she said with a sigh.

Glowering like a wounded puppy Eric responded, "I can't cook."

She lifted an eyebrow. "You don't need to know how to cook to make yourself breakfast. Grab yourself cereal, milk, a bowl, and a spoon."

"I will _not_ consume that vile liquid. Besides, that isn't a real breakfast. It's a half assed attempt at fueling yourself so you survive. I've had enough of that thank you very much," the put out man firmly stated, face furrowed in a disgruntled frown. Someone was obviously over their shy attitude.

Staring at him with a displeased look Nura commented, "So you want me to cook for you."

"That would be what I'm implying. It would also help me forget the karaoke incident this morning," he responded with a mischievous grin.

Gaping at the man in front of her, she pointed accusingly at him. Sadly, she couldn't find any words to actually say to him, so instead of looking intimidating, she looked like a constipated Pheonix Wright cosplayer.

Throwing her hands up in surrender, Nura walked over to the cabinets and started grabbing pans and cooking utensils. Glaring over her shoulder at the satisfied demon, she threw the her supplies onto the counter and started rummaging through the fridge. She was going to sneak _so_ much milk into this meal, she thought sadistically.

Thirty minutes later Nura was placing bacon, pancakes, scrambled eggs, and home fries on the table. The look of resentment she had worn the whole time she had been cooking softened when she saw the look of delight on her companion's face. She glanced down at her plate with a half smile. It had been awhile since she'd sat down and had a real breakfast with anyone.

She turned her attention back up to see Eric happily stuffing his face. Her smile widened. If only he knew how much milk she had to use to make their breakfast, she thought as she gleefully took a bite of her own meal. Like a true member of her Gran's side of the family, she forgave, but she sure as hell didn't forget.

00

Nura snorted in amusement and shoveled some popcorn she had made into her mouth. Ah "Adventure Time", how little sense you made, but how much joy you brought to her heart.

"What the hell are they?" a bewildered Eric asked, face scrunched up in confusion.

"Well, Princess Bubblegum and the Candy people are candy people, Finn is human, and Jake is a really weird stretchy talking dog," she said easily, motioning to the television. She glanced over to see him giving her a blank look.

"And this... Makes _sense_ to you?" he asked slowly.

"As much sense as Madonna's continuity of her career. At least this show is actually enjoyable, and not traumatizing to watch or think of."

"That means?"

"It makes absolutely no sense to me, but I enjoy it anyway."

"Ah."

She gave the confused male a comforting shoulder pat. "We can change the channel if you want. I'll watch almost anything. Anything that contains "Jersey", "wives" or "child competitions" being the exceptions." She watched as he gave a weary nod.

She grinned to herself. After breakfast, Eric had lost the smug look and returned to the brooding, no idea what to do with himself behavior. So, being the wonderful, non vindictive host that she was, she had brought him downstairs to watch Tv. Poor guy was completely baffled by Cartoon Network's cartoons. He couldn't grasp the fact that people actually watched such brain numbing things for enjoyment.

She continued to smile to herself as she finally settled on a channel. Oh TBS, how she loved it and its never ending "House" and "NCIS" marathons. Time to hopefully introduce Eric to the lovely characters that were House, Wilson, Gibbs, Tony, and Abby.

00

"I can't believe they fucking killed off Dinozzo." Eric rumbled in aggravation as they walked towards the hospital. Eight hours of NCIS and Eric was already hooked. They had been in the middle of the "Dinozzo's car exploding episode" when the two had received a call from Al begging them to save him from crazy chameleon lipped nurses.

"First they kill off Kate, and now Dinozzo." He glared over at her. "If they kill off Abby I'm done." Nura snorted to herself. Funny how the few episodes they had watched, almost all the main characters had come close to dying. She blamed Eric.

The two entered the hospital and were immediately attacked by a rainbow lipped Tina.

"Nura! I've become an overlord!" she shouted joyfully and attacked the woman with a hug. "I'm a ruler of color, leader of the rebellion! Fear me and my colorful ways!" she cackled out as she held Nura close with one arm and waved the other as though presenting something. "My minions and I shall bring beauty to this beast, and we shall drink from rainbow fountains! Fear us, for their is nothing we can not accomplish if we stand united! Stand down ye Repressers of Joy, you Directors of Anguish, for I shall never give in!"

"Tina. I've been meaning to ask you this for awhile. What the hell are you on?" Nura asked the bubbly woman.

"Life, Nura! I am high on life!" was the happy squeal. "It was nice sharing my journey for conquest with you, but I must go, for I have loyal followers who await me!" she cried out dramatically as she once again embraced Nura before taking off.

"What just happened?" Eric asked, a completely confounded look on his face.

Nura shrugged. "Honestly, I have no idea. Tina's a lot like "Adventure Time". They're both colorful, loud, break out into song, and make absolutely no sense half of the time. They're both extremely amusing though.

"Uh huh." he doubtfully responded as the settled into the elevator. The two stood quietly as they waited to reach their floor. "Did you remember to bring Al's stuff?" he asked, glancing down at The Smuggler as they exited the death trap in box form.

"One apple pie, a carton of real chocolate milk," Eric winced, "And the books you chose from the office. Right?" she asked curiously, looking over at the man for reassurance.

"Right."

The two entered the patient room to be instantly bombarded by their relatives.

"Brother! You're back!"

"I told ya tha' ya'd make it through the nigh', didn' I Nura?"

"Of course I came back, did you think I'd leave you here with this nut job?"

She glanced between the two people sitting in hospital beds in front of her. One looked so relieved he could cry, and the other looked overly smug.

"Granny, what did you do to him?" Wearily she gazed at the woman who's amusement only seemed to grow.

"_I_ didn' d' jack shi'. Those _nurses_ and their rainbow lips on the other hand, well, I'm surprised the boy still hasn' been shown a "special kinda love" by one of 'em!" Granny cackled out.

A horrified blush crossed Alec's face and he tried in vain not to look at his brother. His brother who looked torn between laughing at him and finding the nurses and making sure they never set eyes on Al again.

"They really weren't that bad Brother! They were just... Concerned that I wasn't comfortable! Really!" Al tried to desperately explain.

Gran snorted. "They were concerned alrigh'. Concerned tha' they wouldn' be the one ta ge' inta ya pan's!" she crowed out, obviously taking delight in the boys mortification.

"They... Who am I kidding. It was terrible Brother! No wonder the Doctor kept me hidden!" he wailed out pitifully.

"I's rare we ge' a youngen in like ya. Being the good lookin' ou' of the area boy tha' ya are, ya did' s'and a chance," The old bat said with a smirk. "Ya'll be lucky ta ge' ou'a here withou' some marriage proposals and breakin' a few hear's!"

"I don't want to hurt anyone. I'm not even that good looking," the boy softly murmured, looking sadly at his hands. Eric sat down next to him and awkwardly patted his back in an attempt at comforting him. He obviously had no idea how to comfort his brother on this. The two looked miserable.

"Don't worry Al," she found herself saying. "Between my Grandma and myself, we should be able to keep the fangirls off of you. I'll even talk to the Ruler of Color to see if she can call them off." She gave what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "And I find you quite lovely, attractive, or whatever you want to call it, so don't be so hard on yourself." A faint blush tinted her cheeks. Curse her and her inability to ignore her feeling of compassion. She noticed an uncertain smile cross Al's face, and then an appreciative glance from Eric.

"Thank you," Al timidly replied.

Nura smiled back. "No problem. I'm sure Granny won't have any trouble, or regrets, with scaring away the nurses for you. It's like a hobby for her."

"Damn righ' I won'. Little hussies comin' in here with their neon lips and shir's dipped t' low! Back in my day, us woman had respec', an-" on she prattled waving her arms in the air to enforce her view, as her exasperated granddaughter shook her head and placed it in her hands.

It took her awhile, but she finally found the will power to return to the world where her Granny continued to rant. She glanced over to see the two brothers looking at the old woman with amusement. Apparently the old coot was ranting about the clothing "youngens wore now days".

"Why the hell would anyone wan' ta da'e someone wh's pan's are 'round their ankles! It's ridiculous! If I had ever brough' a man to see my Da' lookin' like tha', he woulda chewed him ou' so badly, the guy wouldn' be able ta look a' a woman ever again! Then he woulda made me do his paperwork. Terrible thing, tha' paperwork was. Lazy bas'ard never could keep up with i', made me wonder why he never hired someone ta do i'. Said family business was to be run by the family. O' course if my Ma found ou' he had done tha', made me d' his work, he wouldn' be able to walk for a week. Those crazy geezers. I never stood a chance," she finished fondly.

Nura couldn't help but smile. The Pferang family tales were always an experience to listen to. They were an insane bunch, but really, who's family wasn't. She grinned at her Granny and commented, "No one related to the Pferang's stood a chance. You were just unlucky enough to have two insane parents instead of one."

The woman snorted back. "Ya are jus' as much of a Pferang as I am. Ya just better a' hiding i'. Ya Mum was jus' as insane as any of us. Ya hadn' a chance either my swee'."

"Whatever you say Granny," she responded as she handed The Smuggler to an amused Eric. He then proceeded to hand the things the two of them had brought for his brother. She couldn't help but roll her eyes in amusement along with Al as his brother glared daggers at the milk.

"You're hopeless Brother." Al smiled as he took the books and placed them onto his little night stand. He grinned as he open the container holding the pie the had grabbed from a near by bakery. "Is this apple?" he asked, looking hopefully over at Eric.

"Of course it's apple. Apple was your favorite last time I checked," Eric responded with an eye roll. Al just smiled happily back in response and took a bite out of it. "How is it?" Eric asked, looking slightly anxious for someone who just waiting to know how a pie tasted.

"Its great Brother. Thank you for getting it for me," Al cheerfully responded as he took another bite. "Would anyone else like some?" he asked politely, looking at the others around him.

"No. It's your pie Al. Enjoy it." Eric stated firmly in response.

"Ta sugary for me boy. Enjoy i' while ya can. Ya already know how terrible the food is here." Granny responded as she held her cane threateningly at him we he looked to protest.

"I'm more of a cookie or cake person. Thank you for asking though." Nura said when the gaze turned to her.

"Alright then. More for me I guess."

"Tha's the spiri'. Sharing is for sissies!"

"Grandma!" Nura groaned out. "How have you not been killed by someone by now?"

"I'm ta in'mida'ing ta kill."

"More like you're a weed. Doesn't matter how many times we try to get rid of you, you keep popping up," Eric commented from the sidelines.

"Brother!"

"He has a point."

"Nura! My own flesh and blood be'raying me! The shame!" the woman moaned out. "Ya! I shoulda never allowed ya near her! Turnin' my baby girl against me! I, who have raised her since she was a wee little babe!" she shook her cane at Eric threateningly. "Beware boy! For ya have awakened my wrath! Wrath I say!"

The three decided ignoring the raging woman in the background was probably best for now.

"So, did you two do anything exciting since last night?" Al asked, looking hopeful for some information of life on the outside of the hospital.

"We bought food, ate breakfast, and watched Tv," Eric responded with a bored look.

Al sighed and looked over at Nura in hopes of a better explanation.

"We ordered food and then went out to grocery shop. Both incidents involving your brother arguing over who was going to pay for the food. Also, while grocery shopping, he almost killed a pedophile, but we managed to avoid the cops, so that's alright," she started looking at the blank looks that had crossed the two's faces. "This morning Eric _black mailed_ me into making breakfast, then we watched Tv. Your brother, sadly, doesn't understand the joys of pointless cartoons, so we watched NCIS. We then stopped at a bakery and came here."

Al glanced over at his brother who looked blankly back at him.

"You are absolutely hopeless."

He received silence in return.

"You've been out of my sight for one day and already you've almost attacked someone. And you _black mailed_ Nura! What do you have to say for yourself!"

"They made it easy! The guy was in his eighties and wouldn't stop staring at my ass! Nura was dancing around in her pajama's singing into a hairbrush! What do you expect from me Al?"

"_Eric_!" two angry voices exclaimed, one male, one female.

"A' leas' ya were in ya pj's this time kid."

"I'm going to kill you Eric!"

**There is chapter three! Thanks so much for the comments/alerts/ and so on! It means a lot to me! I'm so sorry I didn't have this up earlier. I was forced into painting walls. When I finally finished the walls, my family decided to keep me up for the rest of the week, be it by vacuuming at three in the morning or making some weird food concoction in a blender just as early. **

**Granny and Tina are still insane, Eric doesn't know how to respond to anyone but Al, Al has self esteem issues, and Nura just wants everyone to be happy but doesn't know how without embarrassing herself. The fun continues.**

**I'm so tired. I think I'm going to go sleep now :) **

**Thank you so much for reading!**

**WAIDTA**

**(Why you no put in my page breaks?)**


	4. I Had to Find You

**Disclaimer: I still own nothing but the plot and my Oc's. Anything mentioned that was not made by me, such as any movies, songs, Tv shows, and such, belong to their respected owners. Especially anything to do with FMA. None of them are mine.**

The Scientist

Chapter Four: I Had to Find You

"Eric, put _down_ the air soft gun and step away from the hunting section," Nura demanded, her arms crossed as she glared at the male who was gleefully eyeballing the item in his hand. She huffed as he held the package close to himself and glared right back at her. "I don't care how annoying they are or how much you hate them, you aren't allowed to shoot them!" she pointed angrily at the package that was held even tighter against him.

Eyes narrowed into green slits, Eric responded through gritted teeth, "All night Nura. _All fucking night_. I can't even get a goddamned hour of sleep with those little assholes. They chatter all night and destroy everything!"

"I know Eric. They keep me up all night also, but shooting them with air soft pellets is a little extreme!" she finished with a sigh, shaking her head in exasperation.

It had been two weeks since she had met the Ballard brothers and since Eric had started living with her. Those few weeks had completely turned her world on its head. Now, she had been used to chaotic, she had her Granny and Tina after all, but the two brought a whole new type of crazy into her life.

Eric, well, it had taken awhile for the two of them to warm up to each other. She still felt that he was uncomfortable, but that seemed to be towards the world in general. Al, on the other hand, had taken only days to warm up to. He seemed to just except everything and everyone. It was funny how different the two brothers were.

Eric was an enigma, hidden in a puzzle, wrapped tightly in a paradox. He tended not to start anything, he would wait things out, then he would react. Social interaction had to be initiated for Eric to really join in. Then he was loud and proud. Really, really loud. Unless you were around his brother, then he was immediately buddy-buddy. He seemed to Nura to be watching and waiting. What for, she had no idea, but he was just coasting along until it came.

Alec, was a really sweet guy. He was almost always all smiles and cheerful conversation. He obviously enjoyed interaction with other people and had no problem showing it. He was also very touchy. Not touchy in the "you can't say that or he'll go into cardiac arrest" way, more like he held and touched things as though they were precious to him. He also had a thing for human contact. Nura couldn't count the amount of times she seen people, herself included, be a victim of his shoulder pats or half hugs. He was pretty calm too unless his brother worked him up, then he was just as loud and crazy as Eric.

She was broken out of her musing by Eric's irritated growl. "Goddamn, mother fucking, cow titty sucking, demon bastard, _squirrels_!"

"Eric!" Nura squeaked out, mortified as she watched a angry mother usher her children pass while giving them dirty looks. "Watch it! This maybe a Walmart, but you still can't just spout off what ever enters your psychotic head!"

All she received in response was a darkly muttered, "_Squirrels_."

"Fine, buy the weapon!" she hissed out, fed up. "But, if I find out you've killed or mortally wounded any of those animals, _you're_ going to be the one needing to dodge plastic bullets!" Her scowl deepened as she watched a victorious grin cross the man's face as he cooed at the gun. "You need help," she muttered as she stormed off, empty basket swinging in her hand.

"It's for the greater good," Eric firmly stated, face serious as he caught up to her in the hygiene section. "Why the hell are we in the diaper section? Do you have a problem that I don't know about?" he finished with a slight smirk.

She stared blankly at him. "You're an idiot," she stated as she walked passed the diapers to the end of the aisle and grabbed a pack of pads and threw them into her basket. She glanced over to Eric with a faint blush on her face. She watched as his expression went from confused then to blank. "Being a woman sucks sometimes," was her response.

The two awkwardly, and quickly, left the section and wondered off to the cleaning supplies, where Nura forced Eric to grab swifter pads and Lysol cleaning wipes, to "clean up the disaster you made in the kitchen!" Let it be known, the man should not be allowed near a microwave. Ever. To be honest, he probably shouldn't be allowed near a kitchen at all. She shivered as she was assaulted by memories of the incident.

_Nura stretched and yawned as she finished brushing her hair. She hated mornings. She hated them so very much. Especially when she hadn't slept at all due to the little menaces destroying her back yard. She would call an "Animal Friendly" exterminator, hypocritical name right, to capture them and release them elsewhere, but that just cost so freaking much._

_She froze as the smell of something on fire assaulted her nostrils. Eyes widening, she rushed down the hall and stairs to see smoke wafting in from the kitchen. She skidded to a stop as she came face to face with the disaster that was happening._

_In front of her was a panicking Erik using a towel to try and fan out an on fire microwave. Eyes now stretched as wide as they could go, she rushed over._

_"Move over! Your just making it worse! Don't you know anything about fires?" she shrieked out as she grabbed the towel, that was now also on fire, and threw it on the ground. She quickly started stamping on it with her slipper clad feet to put it out._

_She then ran over to the microwave and slammed the door shut, hoping to suffocate the flames inside it. She took a deep breath of relief as the flames died down and finally flickered out. Glancing around herself, she noticed that drawers and cabinets had been ripped open and food and other items were randomly thrown around the floor . Probably Erik searching for something to stop the fire with._

_Nura then turned to the pale male moving behind the island to keep a safe distance from her. Her eyes narrowed. "What the hell did you do?"_

She glared at Eric after the memory had run its course. Eventually she had found out that the fool had put aluminum foil into the microwave. She could have killed him. What was he, born in the early twentieth century? Everyone knew not to put anything containing metal into them! She scowled to herself and decided not to dwell to much on it at that moment.

00

"To the movies and electronics!" Nura gleefully exclaimed when they finally filled their basket with their necessities. Eric rolled his eyes at her enthusiasm. Hey, she liked her entertainment.

Grinning, she gazed through the movies. Twilight: Breaking Dawn. Not even if it was the last show on earth. The Centipede Two. Yeah, no. The Way and The Space Between? What, they couldn't come up with anything so they were stealing song titles? Spork? Unless it involved Captain Kirk and Commander Spock she wasn't touching it.

Okay then, nothing new that she wanted to watch, but hey, classics are always good. Maybe they had the Original Three Star Wars movie pack. She hummed to herself as she squatted down and gazed through the "S" section. Sighing in disappointment when she couldn't find them, she hefted herself back up and turned her head side to side looking for Eric.

She finally caught sight of him standing in the Tv Series section. While walking over she noticed he had his shoulders hunched almost protectively and was gazing intently at something that was in his right hand.

Nura stopped behind him and stood on her tip-toes to look at what he was concentrating so hard on. She blinked in confusion and asked, "Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood?" She felt him tense up and turn his head slightly to glance at her. "I had heard that they were remaking the series, but I didn't know it was out already."

"You've... _Watched_ this before?" he asked, turning his full attention onto her.

Her brows furrowed in confusion. He seemed overly affected by this. "Yeah, if I remember correctly, it was on Cartoon Network a lot at night. You know, the station with Adventure Time? I watched it a bit when I was in Middle and High School. I ended up reading the manga after seeing the show," she responded with a shrug, shifting nervously under his intense stare. "You can get it if you want." She watched as he stared at it a bit more before nodding to himself and throwing it in. Weird.

"So," she drawled out, hoping to change the atmosphere. "Candy?"

00

"Al, your brother, pardon my language, is a _jackass_," Nura firmly stated to the male as she walked into the hospital room. She watched as a look of fond exasperation crossed his face.

"What did he do now? And where is he?" Alec asked looking over towards the door.

She snorted as she sat down on a chair next to him. "A better question is what hasn't he done. He said he'd be here once he was finished." She pulled out a deck of cards and glanced at her Granny's empty hospital bed. She hoped the chemo was going alright.

Al quirked his mouth into a hesitant smile. "I'm not sure if I should be worried or not. Please tell me he isn't doing anything that'll get him sent here also. We're spending enough money on medical bills as it is."

"I doubt it. The most he'll get is a few bruises. Though he deserves more. The idiot is crouching by the back window and shooting any squirrel he sees with an air soft gun." She snorted at his emotionless face as she shuffled the cards. "You think _that's_ bad? It gets worse. He's dressed as though he's ready for a gang war. He's in all black and he somehow found a camouflage bandanna in the house. Eric even used black Halloween lipstick he found to paint war smudges on his cheeks. It's almost frightening how into it he's gotten."

Al groaned and hid his face in his hands. "That sounds like Brother alright." He frowned and straightened back up. "He can't actually hurt any of the squirrels can he?" a look of concern was on his face.

She couldn't resist the smirk that crossed her own face. "I was concerned at first too, but don't worry. Your brother's aim is terrible. He probably wouldn't be able to hit one of them if it was five feet away from him and the size of a dog."

A sigh of relief followed by laughter escaped Al. Nura grinned as she handed out seven cards between the two of them and made a pile out of the rest. It was time for an intense game of Go Fish.

00

Nura and Al jumped up in surprise when they heard the door crash open and shut. Turning towards the source of the noise, they're gaze fell upon Eric. A very pissed and rumbled up Erik. The clothes he was wearing were extremely wrinkled and he had at some point ditched the bandanna, leaving his hair a mess. His facial markings were smeared all over his face and a few small black and blue marks could be spotted scattered all over him.

"Not a word," he growled out as he stormed over to the two. He pulled out a chair and placed it next to Al and dropped tiredly into it. "I fucking _hate_ squirrels."

"Apparently they're not to nuts about you either," came Al's amused response. He glanced over at Nura with a mischievous smirk as Eric glared at him.

"Well, you can't really blame them. Eric was acting a bit squirrelly," Nura responded with her own smirk.

Eric's glare intensified as he crossed his arms and slouched down in his seat. "I hate you both."

"Brother! You wound me!" Al dramatically responded, placing the hand not holding cards against his heart. He just got an irritated snarl in response.

The two not brooding adults turned and grinned at each other and continued playing their game.

"So Al, we finished setting up the extra room for you to stay in when you're released next week," she happily responded. Turned out that Al's one leg only had a minor fracture, so he'd be allowed to leave and use crutches as soon as it was healed up. Unfortunately, his other leg had four or more weeks till it would fully heal.

She watched as his eyes happily lit up. "That's great! Thank you so much for letting me stay!" he exclaimed happily.

"It's no problem. I have an extra room anyway. Besides, what kind of person would I be if I kicked your brother out and left the two of you without a place to stay while you're in this condition?" she told him with a smile.

"An asshole," Eric responded flatly. He ducked as Alec swatted at him. "She asked."

"It was a rhetorical question Brother."

He just shrugged in response. "So, where's the hag?"

"She finished her chemo treatment and they decided to keep her in recovery because she wasn't feeling well," Nura said with a frown.

"Oh," Eric responded while shifting uneasily. "Sorry."

"Why are you sorry? It's not like you somehow mutated her DNA and gave her liver cancer. Besides, its still only in its beginning stages. If the chemo doesn't help we just need to wait for a liver transplant," she commented lightly, trying to keep the deep worry out of her voice.

She couldn't help but remember when her Granny first got sick. She had just turned seventeen a couple weeks before and the two had been making diner, when suddenly her Grandma had collapsed. She had called nine-one-one and stood by the old woman until they came. At first they had thought she was just being severely affected by a virus, due to her age and the fact her symptoms were fatigue, weakness, and vomiting. Eventually, as the months went on, they had discovered the cancer in her liver. She remembered being so bitter that it had taken so long for them to find it, and that her father had sent his own Mom to a hospital that couldn't figure it out sooner.

Of course, she had eventually realized that it wasn't necessarily the doctors' fault that everything went the way it did, but it still didn't mean she wasn't a bit bitter, or worried. Her Grandmother was old, and she wasn't sure that her body could take the chemo and fight the cancer. If it came down to her needing a liver, she was worried she wouldn't receive one due to her age.

She took a deep breath and released it through her nose. She needed to stop worrying about it so much. The old coot was strong, there was no way she'd let anything take her down yet, especially her own body.

She gave the two brothers a reassuring smile when she noticed that Al was looking at her with open worry and Eric was giving her his own pinched worried look. She noticed the two give barely there relieved sighs afterward. They really were sweet guys.

"How about we see if we can get a pizza delivered here and continue with our intense card games?" she asked cheerfully. "I'm sure we can convince the Rainbow Rebellion to let them up here."

"Sounds great!" Al agreed enthusiastically.

"Wonderful," Eric snorted.

Al glanced at his brother. "You don't have to eat if you don't want to. More food for us, right Nura?"

"Yeah. Besides, pizza has cheese on it, which is basically milk with bacteria added to it and left to age. You wouldn't be interested in it anyway," Nura casually responded and smirked as she watched Eric turn a slightly green color.

"You will never repeat that again," came the weak response.

"It ain't easy being cheesy Brother."

"Sorry if we're curdling your mood."

"You two really need to stop with the terrible puns."

"Fine," came the depressed replies.

"Has he always been such a dream crusher," Nura pouted.

"When its at his expense, yes. He's gotten better with age though."

"I didn't know it was possible for him to be worse."

"Oh, you don't even know."

"I should have stayed with the squirrels."

**There you have it, chapter four. A bit more serious then my other chapters, but I tried to keep some humor in there. Oh Nura and Al, why can't you just keep your terrible puns to yourselves? The world would be a happier place without them. Not to mention Eric. Crazy Granny Pferang-Tadd didn't show up in this chapter, but at least we all know now why she's in the hospital. The title of this chapter is meant to be used in a sarcastic way, just fyi to those who've noticed that the chapter title tends to have something to do with what happens in the story. **

**Thank you all for reading! Please drop me a review to tell me how you think The Scientist is doing so far. It'll help me with making my upcoming chapters :)**

**Thanks Again!**

**WAIDTA**


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